06/05/2023

Ohio Craft Brewers Seek Change in Distribution Contracts Law

The organization says the law hampers growth

The Ohio Craft Brewers Association (OCBA) has mounted an effort to change a state law that it says is not only outdated but hampers industry growth.

In a news release, the OCBA said a 1974 law regulating franchise agreements often locks the state’s roughly 400 small brewers into unbreakable contracts with the distributors that bring their products to bars and stores.

“A lot has changed since 1974, especially the Ohio craft brewing industry,” the release states. The state’s craft brewers are “forced to comply” with the Ohio Alcoholic Beverages Franchise Act, which was originally designed to check the power of large corporations “but now is used to lock small brewers into unfair, unbreakable contracts with wholesalers,” the release states.

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